Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
For years the Melbourne Star has loomed inactive above the city, a casualty of multiple mechanical failures and a global pandemic.
The 120-metre-tall Ferris wheel will reopen from Thursday under new ownership, offering new incentives including Vegas-style drinks packages that are hoped to draw back crowds.
Situated a short tram ride from the CBD, the wheel is also hoped to breathe life back into the Docklands precinct, which itself has struggled with low attendance.
New co-owners of the Melbourne Star, Jay and Jane Jones, are aware of the incredulity of some Melburnians who have watched the attraction battle through decades of issues.
“When we first took it on, people would sit there and go, ‘ugh, the thing in the Docklands?'” Mr Jones told AAP.
Since taking ownership in August 2025, the Jones’ have led extensive works on the wheel, taking apart and checking every mechanical component and recommissioning the wheel’s lighting.
All up it cost $11 million to get the wheel back up and turning after five years of disuse.
A standard ride on the wheel costs $29 for a half hour, with more premium bottomless drinks, charcuterie, romance and private capsule packages also available.
Both the Jones’, who are from Melbourne, say they want the wheel – an unmissable part of the city’s skyline – to represent a more hopeful message than it has for the past half decade.
“It’s something you drive or walk past every day,” Mr Jones said.
“When the whole country knows it’s just that thing that didn’t work – that Melbourne’s COVID was so hard – that’s negative for everyone.
“We want Melburnians to be proud of this wheel again,” Ms Jones added.
The couple travelled to similar wheels around the world, taking inspiration from drinks packages offered on a trip they took to Las Vegas.
But ultimately they hope the wheel will become a part of the Melbourne entertainment landscape.
“We’ve got Marvel Stadium just here on our doorstep, where they do a lot of events, like Ed Sheeran was there, as well as the footy,” Mr Jones said.
“So if we could get them to come to the Star before that, and have their unlimited drinks for half an hour, that was part of the plan.”
The director of Victoria University’s School for the Visitor Economy, Naomi Dale, said the reopening of the Star had the opportunity to help reinvigorate Docklands.
“The opportunities around reactivating that precinct and getting people down to do several attractions at once are good,” she said.
“I think the big success will come when Melbourne families want to take their visiting friends and relatives, which is quite a large part of our market here.”
Reopening the Star is a joint venture between the Jones’ company, Skyline Attractions, along with US-based Ray Cammack Shows, and previous owner, Switzerland’s RoBu Group.
